The End
by ScorpioGirl1987
Summary: ONESHOT Maleficent sends Riku five years into the future to see what happens when Sora says yes to being Xehanort's vessel. Let me tell you: it ain't pretty. Based on the Supernatural episode The End.


**I just rewatched this Supernatural episode, and I kind of want to do a parody of it. Kingdom Hearts is perfect for it.**

 **CAST:**

 **Dean- Riku**

 **Sam- Sora**

 **Castiel- Mickey**

 **Bobby- Yen Sid**

 **Lucifer- Xehanort**

 **Zachariah- Maleficent**

 **Risa- Yuffie**

 **Janet- Selphie**

 **Rhonda- Aqua**

 **Chuck- Lea**

 **I do not own Kingdom Heats or Supernatural. They belong to Square Enix/Disney and the CW respectively.**

Riku headed to his room in Disney Castle. He was staying there for a few days while he and the king prep for their journey to find the missing key bearers. Mickey stopped him in the hall.

"Riku, I just received word that Maleficent knows about Xehanort's plan for the x-blade."

"So, what's her plan?" Riku asked.

"I don't know that much, but she doesn't want Xehanort to succeed." Mickey replied.

Riku scoffed. "That doesn't make any sense. She _loves_ the darkness. Why wouldn't she want Xehanort to cover all the worlds with…well…darkness?"

"That's what we need to find out." Mickey replied.

"Okay. Where do we start?"

"Immediately."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. No, no, come on, man. I just flew the gummi ship like sixteen hours straight, okay? I'm human. And there's stuff I got to do." Riku tried his best not to complain.

"What stuff?" Mickey asked.

"Eat, for example. In this case, sleep. I just need like four hours once in a while, okay?" Riku answered.

Mickey really didn't want to wait, but, he needed his friend energized. "Yes."

"Okay, so, you can pop in tomorrow morning." Riku nodded. Mickey nodded in agreement and ran off. Riku sighed, went into his room, and flopped on the bed, and immediately fell asleep.

XXX

A few hours later, his communicator rang. "Damn it, Mickey, I need to sleep!"

"Riku, it's me." Sora said through the communicator.

"Sora? It's quarter past four." Riku said, surprised.

"This is important." Sora insisted.

"I know. You're his vessel. Xehanort's wearing you to the prom." Riku sat up.

"That's what he said." Sora shrugged.

Riku nodded. "Just when you thought you were out, they pull you back in, huh, Sora?"

"So, that's it? That's your response?" Sora asked in surprise.

"What are you looking for?"

"I don't know. A-a little panic? Maybe?" Sora shrugged.

"I guess I'm a little numb to the earth-shattering revelations at this point." Riku closed his eyes and nodded.

"What are we gonna do about it?" Sora asked.

"What do you _want_ to do about it?" Riku wondered aloud.

"I want back in, for starters." Sora said firmly.

After the Mark of Mastery exam, Sora swore off fighting heartless and nobodies. He and Riku got into a big fight about it, and haven't spoken since. "Sora-"

"I mean it. I am sick of being a puppet to these sons of bitches. I'm gonna hunt him down, Riku."

"Oh, so, we're back to revenge, then, are we? Yeah, 'cause that worked out so well last time." He said sarcastically. He still recalled what Namine told him about what happened to Sora in Castle Oblivion.

"Not revenge. Redemption." Sora assured him.

Riku couldn't believe this. "So, what, you're just gonna walk back in and we're gonna be the dynamic duo again?"

That stung Sora. He knew Riku was mad, but, he still deserved another chance! "Look, Riku, I can do this. I can. I'm gonna prove it to you."

Riku wasn't buying it. "Look, Sora-it doesn't matter-whatever we do. I mean, it turns out that you and me, we're the, uh, the fire and the oil of the Armageddon. You know, on that basis alone, we should just pick a world. Stay away from each other for good."

Sora wasn't going to give up. "Riku, it does not have to be like this. We can fight it."

Riku nodded. "Yeah, you're right. We can. But not together. We're not stronger when we're together, Sora. I think we're weaker. Because whatever we have between us-love, friendship, whatever it is-they are always gonna use it against us. And you know that. Yeah, we're better off apart. We got a better chance of dodging Xehanort and Maleficent and this whole damn thing, if we just go our own ways."

Sora shook his head. "Riku, don't do this."

"Bye, Sora." Riku hung up and went back to sleep.

XXX

The next morning, Riku woke up to find the nightstand clock is smashed; when Riku answered his communicator, it was fine. Riku is lying on the springs of the bed; the mattress is gone. Riku gets up and looks around; the entire room is trashed. He looks out the window; so is the city.

Riku leaves the castle and takes a look around; the area is devastated, everything broken or graffitied on or both. The first sign of life Riku sees is a girl in an alley with a teddy bear. Riku approaches her slowly.

"Little girl? Little girl? Are you hurt?" Riku asked gently. The girl didn't respond. "You know the not-talking thing is kind of creepy, right?"

Blood drips from the girl's mouth. The girl turns into a heartless, shrieks, and attacks Riku with a shard of glass. Riku destroyed her with his keyblade and looks around, catching sight of a large piece of graffiti: it reads "DARKNESS".

"Oh, crap." Riku muttered.

Several heartless come around the corner. Riku runs. They chase him onto a street blocked by a chain-link fence. Several keyblade wielders on tanks arrive, shooting the Heartless. A glass window shatters. Riku makes it to the safety of an alley as the key bearers continue battling the heartless. He breaks through a fence.

A sign on the fence reads:

DARKNESS

HOT ZONE

NO ENTRY

BY ORDER OF ACTING REGIONAL COMMAND

DISNEY CASTLE

Riku exhaled sharply and steals a gummi ship. He has no idea where he is going, but, he is driving. Suddenly, Maleficent appeared beside him.

"I thought I smelled your stink on this crap." Riku said bitterly. "How did you find me?"

"I'm the one who put you here." She explained. "You are now five years into the future. Afraid we had to tap some unorthodox resources of late- human informants. We've been making inspirational visits to the fringier keyblade masters. They've been given your image, told to keep an eye out."

"Okay, well, good, great. You have had your jollies. Now send me back, you bitch." Riku demanded.

"Oh, you'll get back- all in good time. We want you to marinate a bit." Maleficent responded, grinning wickedly.

"Marinate?" Riku glanced at her in frustration.

"Three days, Riku. Three days to see where this course of action takes you."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that your choices have consequences. This is what happens to the world if you continue to say "no" to Xehanort. Have a little look-see." Maleficent replied, then vanished.

XXX

Riku headed to the Mysterious Tower. He ran up to Yen Sid's office.

"Yen Sid? Yen Sid, I'm coming in!" He walked into the office, which is pretty thoroughly trashed, and from the spider webs and dust, no one has been around in a while. Riku's face fell. "Oh, no." Yen Sid's hat is on its side on the desk. Riku sets it upright and sees the dried blood on the back. "Where is everybody, Yen Sid?"

Riku pulls out a desk drawer and finds a photo of Yen Sid with Mickey, three unidentified men, and a sign. "Camp Destiny- Destiny Islands."

XXX

Riku hopped onto his gummi ship and headed to Destiny Islands. He gasped in shock at the destruction of the town. Camp Destiny was in the wooded area in the middle of the main island. At night, Riku approached the sign from the photo. Men with weapons are just inside the fence, patrolling. Riku is careful to stay out of sight. He catches sight of the gummi ship he was riding five years previous, smashed up and rusted to hell.

"Oh, baby, no." Riku approaches the ship for a better look at the damage, peering inside the driver's side door. "Oh, no, baby, what did they do to you?" Riku hears something and has barely turned to look when he is knocked out by another Riku, this one Future Riku identified by the black vest he is wearing instead of Riku's yellow vest.

XXX

Riku wakes up and discovers he is handcuffed to a ladder. Future Riku is across the room cleaning his keyblade.

"What the hell?" Riku furrowed his brow in confusion.

"I should be asking that question, don't you think? In fact, why don't you give me one good reason why I shouldn't gank you right here and now?" Future Riku asked.

Riku smirked. He couldn't help himself. "Because you'd only be hurting yourself."

Future Riku smirked back. "Very funny."

Riku sighed. "Look, man- I'm no shapeshifter or heartless or anything, okay?'

"Yeah, I know. I did the drill while you were out." Future Riku replied, dismissing his keyblade. "But you know what was funny? Was that you had every box cutter and keyblade that I carry. Now, you want to explain that? Oh, and the, uh, resemblance, while you're at it?"

"Maleficent." Riku said simply.

Future Riku stood up. "Come again?"

"I'm you from five years ago. Mal plucked me from my bed and threw me five years into the future." Riku explained.

"Where is she? I want to talk to her." Future Riku asked.

Riku shook his head. "I don't know."

"Oh, you don't know." Future Riku said disbelieving.

"No, I don't know. Look, I just want to get back to my own friggin' year, okay?" Riku sighed.

"Okay. If you're me, then tell me something only I would know." Future Riku said.

Riku thinks, then smirks. "Shiki. It was during the Mark of Mastery exam. She called us her knight. And you know what? We kind of liked it."

Future Riku chuckled, then nodded. "Touché. So, what, Mal zapped you up here to see how bad it gets?"

Riku shrugged. "I guess. Darkness, right? That's their endgame?"

Future Riku nodded soberly. "It's efficient, it's incurable, and it's scary as hell. Turns people into monsters. Started hitting the major cities about two years ago. Worlds really went in the crapper after that. Destiny Island was the first on their destruction tour."

"What about Sora?" Riku was afraid to ask.

Future Riku went still. "Heavyweight showdown in the Keyblade Graveyard. From what I understand, Sora didn't make it."

"You weren't with him?" Riku was surprised.

Future Riku shook his head. "No. No, me and Sora, we haven't talked in- hell, five years."

"We never tried to find him?"

"We had other people to worry about." Future Riku replied as he gathered up his stuff.

"Where you going?" Riku asked.

"I got to run an errand." Future Riku said.

"Whoa. You're just gonna leave me here?" Riku asked in astonishment.

Future Riku nodded. "Yes. I got a camp full of twitchy trauma survivors out there with an apocalypse hanging over their head. The last thing they need to see is a past version of me. So, yeah, you stay locked down."

"Okay. All right. Fine. But you don't have to cuff me, man. Oh, come on. You don't trust yourself?" Riku asked sarcastically.

"No. Absolutely not." Future Riku leaves.

"Dick." Riku pries a nail out of the floorboards and uses it to remove the handcuffs. He walked out of the shelter he was in and walked around the camp until he ran into Lea.

"Hey, Riku. You got a second?" Lea asked.

"No- yes. Uh, I-I guess. Hi, Lea." Riku decided to play along.

"Hi. So, uh, listen, we're pretty good on canned goods for now, but we're down to next to nothing on perishables and- and hygiene supplies. People are not gonna be happy about this. So, what do you think we should do?" He asked.

Riku thought about that. "I-I don't know. Maybe, uh, share? You know, like at a kibbutz."

Lea did a double-take. "Wait a minute. Aren't you supposed to be out on a mission right now?"

"Absolutely. And I will be."

Lea looked behind Riku. "Uh-oh."

A woman comes up behind Riku and tries to slug him, but Riku dodged. "Whoa! Jeez! Easy, lady!"

"Yuffie." Lea greeted.

"Yuffie?" Riku raised an eyebrow.

"You spent the night in Selphie's cabin last night, didn't you?" Yuffie glared at Riku accusingly.

Riku was confused. "Uh, what? I-I don't-did I?"

Lea nodded. Yuffie continued. "I thought we had a 'connection'." Yuffie air-quotes the word.

Riku shrugged. "Well, I'm sure that we do."

"Yeah?"

Lea waved. "Hi, Yuffie."

Yuffie ignored Lea and glared at Riku. "Screw you."

"Oh, jeez. I'm getting busted for stuff I haven't even done yet." Riku muttered.

"What?" Lea turned to him.

"Uh, never mind." Riku replied shaking his head. "Hey, Lea, is...Mickey still here?"

"Yeah. I don't think Mickey is going anywhere." Lea nodded.

XXX

Riku enters Mickey's cabin. Mickey and some women sat in a circle in the middle of the room. "So, in this way. We're each a fragment of total perception—just, uh, one compartment in that dragonfly eye of group mind. Now, the key to this total, shared perception—it's, um, it's surprisingly physical." He turns to see Riku. "Oh. Excuse me, ladies. I think I need to confer with our fearless leader for a minute. Why not go get washed up for the orgy?" The women leave. "You're all so beautiful." Mickey stands and stretches his back, grunting.

"What are you, a hippie?" Riku asked.

"I thought you'd gotten over trying to label me." Mickey responded, walking over to him.

"Mickey, we got to talk."

Mickey noticed something off with Riku, and frowned. "Whoa. Strange."

"What?"

"You...are not you. Not now you, anyway." Mickey said.

"No! Yeah. Yes, exactly." Riku stuttered, slightly relieved someone other than his future self noticed.

"When are you from?" Mickey asked.

"Five years ago."

"Who did this to you? Is it Maleficent?" Mickey guessed.

Riku nodded. "Yes."

"Interesting." Mickey stroked his chin.

Riku nodded. "Oh, yeah, it's friggin' fascinating. Now. Why don't you summon your keyblade and zap me back to my page on the calendar?"

Mickey laughed humorlessly. "I wish I could just, uh, summon my keyblade, but I'm sorry, no dice."

Riku's heart sank. "What, are you stoned?"

"Uh, generally, yeah." Mickey nodded.

"What happened to you?" Riku asked in astonishment.

"Life." Mickey said simply.

XXX

Later that day, Future Riku came back with some soldiers. He climbs out of the gummi ship, grabs two water bottles, and tosses one to a soldier. They both open the bottles and drink. Future Riku pulls out a knife, and slits the soldier's throat.

"Hey, hey! Watch out!" Riku exclaimed. The others look between the two Rikus.

"Damn it." Future Riku muttered. He addresses the soldiers. "I'm not gonna lie to you. Me and him- It's a pretty messed-up situation we got going. But believe me, when you need to know something, you will know it. Until then, we all have work to do."

XXX

Future Riku drags Riku into the headquarters and slams the door shut. "What the hell was that?"

"What the hell was _that_? You just shot a guy in cold blood!" Riku exclaimed.

"We were in an open quarantine zone. Got ambushed by some Heartless on the way out." Future Riku explained. "One of them infected Neku"

"How do you know?"

''Cause after a few years of this, I know." Future Riku sat down. "I started seeing symptoms about a half an hour ago. Wasn't gonna be long before he flipped. I didn't see the point in troubling a good man with bad news."

"'Troubling a good man'? You just blew him away in front of your own people. Don't you think that freaked them out a little bit?" Riku's eyes widened.

"It's 2014. Plugging some Heartless, it's called commonplace. Trading words with my friggin' clone- _that_ might have freaked them out a little." Future Riku raised an eyebrow.

"All right, look-"

"No, you look." Future Riku interrupted, and pointed at his past self. "This isn't your time. It's mine. _You_ don't make the decisions. _I_ do. So, when I say stay in, you stay in."

Riku sighed and shook his head. "All right, man. I'm sorry. Look, I-I'm not trying to mess you- me- us up here."

"I know."

Future Riku pours two glasses of soda, and gave one to his past self. "It's just been a really wacky weekend."

"Tell me about it." They drink.

"What was the mission, anyway?" Riku asked. Future Riku summoned a golden keyblade with a heart shaped handle, and a keychain shaped like a heart. "The Keyblade to Return Hearts?"

Future Riku nodded. "Yep."

"Where was it?"

"Everywhere. They've been moving it around. Took me five years, but...I finally got it. And tonight-tonight, I'm gonna kill Xehanort."

XXX

Later that evening, the entire camp was gathered at the Headquarters. Future Riku showed everyone the keyblade.

"So, that's it? That's the Key to Return Hearts?" Yuffie asked

Future Riku nodded. "If anything can kill Xehanort, this is it."

"Great. Have we got anything that can find Xehanort?" Yuffie asked with contention in her voice.

"Are you okay?" Future Riku asked.

Riku spoke up. "Oh, we were in, uh, Selphie's cabin last night. And, apparently, we and...Yuffie have a connection."

Future Riku glared at him. "You want to shut up?" Riku raises his hands in surrender. "We don't have to find Xehanort. We know where he is. The Heartless that we caught last week, he was one of the big guy's entourage. He knew."

Yuffie rolled her eyes. "So, a Heartless tells you where Xehanort's gonna be, and you just believe it?"

"Oh, trust me, he wasn't lying." Future Riku nodded.

"And you know this how?"

"Our fearless leader, I'm afraid, is all too well schooled in the art of getting to the truth." Mickey answered.

Riku was appalled. "Torture? Oh, so, we're-we're torturing now." Future Riku looks at him. Riku just shook his head and shrugged. "No, that's-that's good. Classy."

Mickey laughs. Future Riku looks at him. "What? I like past you."

Choosing to ignore that, Future Riku continued. "Xehanort is here. Now. I know the block and I know the building."

"Oh, good—it's right in the middle of a hot zone." Mickey said sarcastically.

"Crawling with Heartless, yeah. You saying my plan is reckless?" Future Riku asked.

"Are you saying we, uh, walk in straight up the driveway, past all the Heartless, and we stab Xehanort?" Mickey asked.

"Yes."

Mickey nodded. "Okay, if you don't like, uh, 'reckless', I could use 'insouciant', maybe."

"Are you coming?" Future Riku asked, slightly irritated.

Mickey sighed. "Of course. But why is _he_? I mean, he's you five years ago. If something happens to him, you're gone, right?"

"He's coming." Future Riku said firmly.

Mickey just nodded again. "Okay. Well, uh. I'll get the grunts moving."

"We're loaded and on the road by midnight." Future Riku reminded him.

"All righty." Mickey and Yuffie leave.

"Why are you taking me?" Riku asked.

"Relax. You'll be fine. Maleficent's looking after you, right?" Future Riku smirked.

"No, that's not what I mean. I want to know what's going on." Riku folded his arms.

Future Riku nodded. "Yeah, okay. You're coming because I want you to see something. I want you to see our friend. Well…ex-friend."

"Sora? I thought he was dead."

"Sora didn't die in the Keyblade Graveyard. He said 'yes'." Future Riku revealed.

"'Yes'?" Riku's surprise was followed by a long silence. "Wait. You mean…"

Future Riku nodded to comfirm his suspicion. "That's right. The big 'yes'. To Xehanort. He's wearing him to the prom."

Riku was shell-shocked. Sora would never! "Why would he do that?"

"Wish I knew. But now we don't have a choice. It's in him, and it's not getting out. And we've got to kill him, Riku. And you need to see it- the whole damn thing, how bad it gets- so _you_ can do it different." Future Riku said.

"What do you mean?" Riku asked.

"Maleficent said she was gonna bring you back, right? Back to five years ago?"

"Yeah."

"Well, when you get back home-you make sure Sora says 'no'. You hear me? Make damn sure he says 'no' to Xehanort." Future Riku said firmly.

"Of course I will!" Riku exclaimed. "If I let him, then Xehanort possesses Sora. The result is gonna torch half the planet."

"There's more." Future Riku revealed. He had a certain sadness in his eyes mixed with guilt and grief.

"'More'?" Riku raised an eyebrow.

"Because Sora said 'yes', we didn't have enough Guardians of Light to clash with the Thirteen Darknesses." Future Riku said, his voice shaking. "The 'Norts bound us all- me, the king, Donald, Goofy, Lea, Aqua, Ven- and captured the seven Princesses of Heart. Fortuneately, the princesses all knew how to fight. Unfortunately, they weren't strong enough. Snow White, Cinderella, and Aurora were all heavy with child…and they went first. Jasmine and Belle just barely got married to their princes…they were next. Then Alice… Kairi was the last one standing." Future Riku swallowed back tears. "The entire fight lasted three hours. We all tried to break free, but…we couldn't. Kairi, um…" He cleared his throat. "Kairi fought Sora. She tried in vain to call him back from the darkness- even going as far as kissing him, hoping True Love's Kiss would work. It didn't. And that was her downfall."

Riku didn't want to believe it. He shook his head and turned away. "No…"

"I know it's hard to accept-"

" _NO_!" Riku whirled around. "Sora would _never_ kill his friends. _Especially_ if they're pregnant, and _especially_ if he's in love with Kairi!"

"Yeah, that's what _I_ thought." Future Riku shrugged. "I was cocky. Never actually thought I'd lose. But I was wrong. Riku. I was wrong."

Riku just shook his head, turned around and started breathing heavily. This was just too much! Did Maleficent really put him in the real future? Or was all this made up to manipulate him?

XXX

Later, everyone waited by the gummi ship. Riku was still upset about what his future self told him. Lea walked up to him.

"So, you're really from five years ago?" He asked.

Riku nodded, but didn't look at him. "Yeah, afraid so."

Lea continued. "Some free advice? You ever get back there, you hoard toilet paper. You understand me? Hoard it. Hoard it like it's made of gold. 'Cause it is."

"Thank you, Lea." Riku said absently.

"Oh, you'll thank me, all right. Mark my words."

"I'll see you around." Riku nodded.

Lea could tell he wasn't interested. "Yeah. Okay."

XX

Riku is riding shotgun in Mickey's gummi ship. Mickey takes a potion.

"Let me see that." Riku held out his hand.

"You want some?" Mickey asked, handing the bottle to him.

"Amphetamine Potion?" Riku asked, incredulously.

"It's the perfect antidote to that absinthe." Mickey explained.

Riku nodded. "Mmm. Don't get me wrong, Mickey. I, uh. I'm happy that the stick is out of your ass, but-what's going on-w-with the potions and the orgies and the love-guru crap?" Mickey laughs humorlessly. "What's so funny?"

"Riku, I'm not a king anymore. Or a keyblade master." Mickey said, looking straight ahead.

"What?"

"Yeah, I'm a peasant now." Mickey nodded.

"What do you mean? How?" Riku asked.

Mickey closed his eyes for a minute, then opened them. "After the Princesses of Heart were felled…and after Destiny Islands was burnt to a crisp…Disney Castle was next. Xehanort wanted me removed from power- both royal and the keyblade. Donald and Goofy died protecting…" He swallowed back tears. "Protecting my wife…but they got her, anyway. To add more to my misery, the very last thing my Minnie ever said to me was that she was pregnant. Soon after that, my kingdom fell…and Xehanort literally ripped my powers from me."

Riku exhaled sharply and shook his head sadly. _'This can't be real…this_ has _to be Maleficent's manipulations.'_

"I owe you my life, you know?" Mickey glanced at Riku, who glanced back. "I had lost everything. I didn't want to take the chance of my heart falling to darkness. So…I took a shotgun and held it to my head. As I was about to pull the trigger, you came rushing in and got the gun away from me. You reminded me that though I lost pretty much everything and everyone I cared about…I still had friends. I still had a purpose in life. And you were right."

"Wow."

"Yeah."

"I'm so sorry. What you went through…" Riku sighed. "So, you're a peasant. Well, welcome to the club."

"Thanks. Except I used to belong to a much better club. And now I'm powerless. I'm hapless, I'm hopeless." Mickey shrugged. "I mean, why the hell not bury myself in women and decadence, right? It's the end, baby. That's what decadence is for. Why not bang a few gongs before the lights go out? But then that's, that's just how I roll."

Riku stayed silent the rest of the trip. He was convinced that this wasn't the real future, but…a part of him had to wonder…

XXX

They landed near the castle in the Land of Departure. Mickey, both Rikus, Yuffie, and other soldiers walked up to it, holding weapons.

Future Riku looked up and pointed to a window. "There. Second-floor window. We go in there."

Yuffie looked at Future Riku. "You sure about this?"

Future Riku nodded. "They'll never see us coming. Trust me. Now, weapons check. We're on the move in five."

Riku spoke up. "Hey, uh, me. Can I talk to you for a sec?" Future Riku goes to the side with Riku.

"Tell me what's going on."

"What?" Future Riku asked innocently.

"I know you. You're lying to these people and to me."

"Is that so." Future Riku said, aloof.

"Yeah. See, I know your lying expressions. I've seen them in the mirror. Now, there's something you're not telling us." Riku said.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Future Riku continued being evasive.

"Oh, really? Well, I don't seem to be the only member of your posse with some questions, so, uh, maybe I'll just take my doubts over to them." Riku started walking back, but his future self stopped him.

"Okay, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait."

Riku turned around. "What?"

Future Riku threw his arms out. "Take a look around you, man. This place should be white-hot with Heartless. Where are they?"

Riku figured it out. "They cleared a path for us. Which means that this is-"

"A trap. Exactly." Future Riku finished.

"Well, then we can't go through the front." Riku suggested.

"Oh, we're not. They are. They're the decoys. You and me, we're going in through the back." Future Riku replied.

Riku was once again shocked. "You mean you're gonna feed your friends into a meat grinder? Mickey, too? You want to use their deaths as a diversion?" Future Riku looks away. "Oh, man, something is broken in you. You're making decisions that I would never make. I wouldn't sacrifice my friends."

"You're right. You wouldn't. It's one of the main reasons we're in this mess, actually." Future Riku turned back around.

"These people count on you. They trust you." Riku glared at his future self.

"They trust me to kill Xehanort and to save the worlds and that's exactly what I'm gonna do."

Riku shook his head. "No. Not like this, you're not. I'm not gonna let you."

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah."

Future Riku knocked Riku unconscious and walked off.

XXX

Riku wakes up on the ground. He sees flashes in the building and runs toward it. Thunder crashes, lightning flashes, and Riku sees Future Riku on the ground, neck held down by someone wearing a black shoe. Future Riku opens his eyes and sees Riku. The someone shifts his weight; Future Riku's neck audibly breaks. The someone Riku sees, is Sora but not; it must be Xehanort. He turns around and sees Riku.

"Oh. Hello, Riku." Sora-Xehanort greeted. He had white hair and golden eyes. He wore the Organization cloak. Riku just stared at Sora-Xehanort in horror. "Aren't you a surprise?" Thunder and lightning flashed again. Sora-Xehanort is now behind Riku. "You've come a long way to see this, haven't you?"

Riku shrugged. "Well, go ahead. Kill me."

"Kill you?" Sora-Xehanort raised an eyebrow and looks at the corpse of Future Riku. "Don't you think that would be a little...redundant?" He sighed. "I'm sorry. It must be painful, speaking to me in this…shape. But it had to be your friend. It _had_ to be." Sora-Xehanort reaches for Riku's shoulder. He moves back. "You don't have to be afraid of me, Riku. What do you think I'm going to do?"

Riku shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe deep-fry the worlds?"

Sora-Xehanort examines a rose, then looks up. "Why? Why would I want to destroy this stunning thing? Beautiful in a trillion different ways. The last perfect handiwork of the gods." Riku didn't respond. "You ever hear the story of how I fell from grace?"

Riku sighed in frustration. "Oh, good God, you're not gonna tell me a bedtime story, are you? My stomach's almost out of bile."

Sora-Xehanort ignored him and continued. "You know why the Foretellers cast me out of the light? Because I loved them. More than anything. And then the Foretellers created..." He smirked. "You. The little...hairless apes. And then they asked all of us to bow down before you-to love you, more than them. And I said, "I can't." I said, "These human beings are flawed, murderous." And for that, they cast me into hell. Or Destiny Islands, if you prefer. Now, tell me, does the punishment fit the crime? Especially, when I was right? Look at what six billion of you have done to this thing, and how many of you blame me for it."

"You're not fooling me, you know that? With this sympathy-for-the-devil crap. I know what you are." Riku summoned his keyblade.

"What am I?" Sora-Xehanort asked, amused.

"You're the same thing, only bigger. The same brand of cockroach I've been squashing my whole life. An ugly, evil, belly-to-the-ground, supernatural piece of crap. The only difference between them and you is the size of your ego." Riku frowned.

Sora-Xehanort smirked. "I like you, Riku. I get what the other keyblade masters see in you. Goodbye. We'll meet again soon." He turned to walk away.

"You better kill me now!" Riku yelled angrily.

Sora-Xehanort turned back. "Pardon?"

Riku took a breath. "You better kill me now. Or I swear, I will find a way to kill you. And I won't stop."

"I know you won't. I know you won't kill Sora. Whatever you do, you will _always_ end up here. Whatever choices you make, whatever details you alter, we will always end up-here. I win. So, I win." Sora-Xehanort nodded.

"You're wrong." Riku declared. Manipulation or no, he was not going to let any of this happen.

"See you in five years, Riku." Sora-Xehanort disappeared through a Corridor of Darkness. Riku turns around to see Maleficent behind him. She smirked, and raised her arms, powering up her scepter.

XXX

Riku woke up to find himself leaning against the wall in his bedroom at Disney Castle. Maleficent stood right in front of him.

"Oh, well, if it isn't the ghost of Christmas screw you." Riku snapped.

"Enough. Riku, enough. You saw it, right? You saw what happens. You're the only person who can prove Xehanort wrong. Just prevent Sora from saying yes."

Riku stood. "How do I know that this whole thing isn't one of your tricks? Huh? Some fairy hocus-pocus?"

"The time for tricks is over." Maleficent turned away. "Tell Sora to say no, then we can strike. Before Xehanort gets to him. Before billions die." Riku turns away from Maleficent. She turned to face him in surprise. Are you telling me you haven't learned your lesson?"

Riku turned back to her. "Oh, I've learned a lesson, all right. Just not the one you wanted to teach."

Maleficent grew angry. "Well, I'll just have to teach it again! Because I got you now, boy, and I'm never letting you-" Maleficent vanished in a bright light. Riku turned to see Mickey with his keyblade out.

"That's pretty nice timing, Mickey." Riku said.

"We had an appointment."

Riku leaned down and put a hand on his shoulder. "Don't ever change."

"How did Maleficent find you?" Mickey asked.

Riku stood. "Long story. Let's just stay away from Maleficent from now on, okay?" He pulls out his communicator.

"What are you doing?"

"Something I should have done in the first place." Riku replied simply. He wasn't going to make the same mistake his future self did.

XXX

Riku told Sora to meet him at Disney Castle. Sora walked towards him a little nervous.

Riku smiled. "If you're serious and you want back in...you should hang on to your keyblade. I'm sure you're rusty." Sora summoned his keyblade, and did not meet Riku's eyes. "Look, man, I'm sorry. I don't know. I'm...whatever I need to be. But I was, uh-wrong."

Sora finally looked up at him. "What made you change your mind?"

"Long story. The point is...maybe we _are_ each other's weaknesses. Maybe they'll find a way to use us against each other, I don't know. I just know we're all we've got. More than that. We keep each other human." Riku paused. "Well, okay, we have our friends, but, still…"

Sora smiled. "Thank you. Really. Thank you. I won't let you down."

Riku raised his eyebrows and nodded. "Oh, I know it. I mean, you are the second-best hunter on the planet."

Sora smiled and nodded. He put his hands behind his head. "So, what do we do now?"

"We make our own future." Riku replied simply.

"Guess we have no choice." Sora grinned.

"Just promise me one thing." Riku said.

"Of course!"

"Promise me that no matter what, you will under no circumstances not say yes to Xehanort." Riku said firmly.

"I promise. I won't say yes." Sora replied just as firmly. "Riku, I'm not going to give in to the darkness. I love my friends too much to destroy them all."

"Good." Riku wrapped Sora in a hug, much to the latter's surprise. "I love you like a brother, Sora."

"Aw, Riku. You old softie." Sora teased.

"Shut up." Riku muttered. Sora just laughed.


End file.
